Adam Reed Looks At BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE

Guest Review by The 10,000 Comics Pyramid's ADAM REED . . . .

Batman: The Adventures Continue #6-8 (DC, January-March 2021) Adam's Rating: Four Stars out of a possible Five Stars.

We finally get this universe’s version of Death in the Family and I have to admit I’m underwhelmed. Maybe it’s because Jason is such an unlikeable character. Maybe it’s because I feel like Red Hood was forced into this universe when it was fine without him.

I gave up trying to reconcile continuity between this and the series since the people who created the DCAU don’t seem to care either. Leslie Thompkins not being in the The New Batman Adventures is explained as her and Bruce had a falling out over Jason. The Christmas issue was fun, though seeing Arnold Wesker be freed from Scarface again (after doing so in the show) was repetitive but he got his victory by betraying the puppet - - so that was cool. Ventriloquist is an underrated villain in my opinion. Penguin’s makeover didn’t need an explanation (he was pushed out of a helicopter by Jason) since they never did one for Scarecrow. But according to Mad Hatter at the Christmas party, it’s still Jonathan Crane under there (I preferred the producers’ idea that there was nobody under the mask anymore). 

All in all, I’d give this series as a whole a Four out of Five Stars. I really enjoyed the art (I’ve always been a fan of Bruce Tim’s designs) and, like how I felt with The Hobbit films, returning to the DCAU was fun even if it was for a short time.  

However, like The Hobbit, it wasn’t necessary (though it was cool to see Deathstroke). The way this contradicts continuity irks me, especially when people involved with the series were behind this. If they couldn’t remember how things went in the show, it’s not like they couldn’t look it up or watch the episodes. I hope the rumor of a sequel show is just that. But with the setup of Slade rescuing Jason, it’s probably true.